PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) — Pirates attacked another fishing boat in Surinamese waters killing one man on Wednesday, even as the authorities  are still searching for victims and recovering bodies from last Friday’s deadly attack on four fishing boats.

According to Mark Lall, secretary of Visserscollectief, a local fishermen’s association, the captain of the boat was killed. The whereabouts of his crew members is uncertain.

On Thursday, several fishing boats, the Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies headed to the area near Matapica Canal where the latest attack allegedly took place.

“When we arrived at the location we will Suriname pirates – body recovered know more about what has happened,” Lall told local media.

Meanwhile the body of one of the victims of Friday’s attack has been recovered last evening from the Wia Wia mud flat and brought to the capital.

Early Thursday the Coast Guard sailed out to recover two more bodies that where spotted in the same area.

Recovery attempts on Wednesday where hampered said Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Slijngard, who is coordinating the rescue and recovery operations.

 “The mud is very thick and rescue workers had to crawl on their belly to reach the location”, said Slijngard, who is also director of the National Coordination Center for Disaster Management (NCCR).

He further noticed that the recovered body bore marks of violence.

Today, 16 fishermen have been reported missing following last week’s attack.

Only four of the crew members, including a captain of one of the boats, managed to reach shore after they were rescued by other boats.

The rest are believed to have died.

According to reports there is strong evidence that the latest attacks are not random acts of criminals robbing fishermen of their catch or other valuables.

Several sources indicate that a turf war between Guyanese fishermen over fishing grounds. According to Slijngard there is credible intelligence that a gang of nine to 11 criminals led by two Guyanese brothers are responsible for recent attacks on fishermen.

One of the brothers is based in Guyana while the other has residence in Suriname, said Slijngard. In the meantime the Surinamese authorities passed the names of several suspects to the Guyanese police in a bid to bring them to justice.